Church records show that Michael, in his 12th year, was confirmed into the Zion Lutheran Church on the 8th of April in the year 1797. He was as communicate at the First Lutheran Church of Greensburg on the 5th of April 1801. In 1804 he married Delilah _____. Their first child was a daughter whom they named Elizabeth, born in Hempfield Township on the 19th of January 1805. She was baptised in the Greensburg Lutheran Church on the 9th of June 1805, with his father, Conrad, and his stepmother, Elizabeth, as sponsors. (German Church Records of Western Pennsylvania Vol. 3, page 44, Paul Ruff.)

Michael was listed on the Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County tax roll for 1805, but did not appear on any subsequent tax rolls in this county. His name does not show in the Greensburg Lutheran Church records after 1805, which supports family history that he departed ca 1807 for Ohio. Whether his brother, Conrad Hawk Junior who made a trip to Huron, Ohio, in 1808, talked Michael into migrating to Ohio, or vice versa, Michael packed his belongings and left for Ohio.  Whether he went overland, or took a boat down the Ohio, is not known, but he settled in Pickaway County, Ohio.

Michael's brother, Conrad, who had settled in Fairfield County, Ohio, with his in-laws, moved to a location near Michael's until he up and moved. In 1813, Michael moved his family west to the adjacent county of Fayette, where he purchased 100 acres of the Virginia Military Survey number 7786, in Madison Township, for $100. He paid $65 in hand to John Hoffman, with the balance to be paid at a later date. Michael cultivated the land and constructed a house and outbuildings. He was listed on the Madison Township, Fayette County, tax roll for the years 1819-1822. In October 1823, Michael was named as Surety for Amos Haukins, Administrator of the estate of Eleazer Meyers of Fayette County, by the Ohio Chancery Court.